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Jun 8, 2009

CPB has announced it will be accepting applications for Round 14 Digital Distribution Fund grants from qualified noncommercial educational TV licensees for Priority One: Digital Television Transmission Facilities and Priority Two: Digital Master Control Services projects. More information is now online.

Parody site CAP News (motto: "Are you in on the joke?") "reports" that scientists investigating the origins of human laughter now know that baboons have a laugh reflex very similar to humans -- and a special fondness for certain types of comedy, such as pubradio's Prairie Home Companion and Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me. The site said baboons laughed "consistently" at episodes of Car Talk, "even though few of them had ever actually been in a car, much less driven one."

University of Florida's public radio station will soon begin airing more news in addition to its current classical music, according to The Gainesville Sun. It broadcasts as WUFT/Classic 89 in that city, and WJUF/Nature Coast 90 in Citrus County. The move comes as the university consolidates its media operations of several radio and television stations. College of Journalism and Communications Dean John Wright said there are no plans to close any station, although jobs may be lost. A detailed announcement will come in the next few weeks.

Three $10,000 awards have gone to students for work on children's media projects in the spirit of Fred Rogers. The annual scholarships are presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation and Ernst & Young. Alexis Lauricella of Georgetown University is at work on a project about the relationship between children's media use and learning. Mayuran Tiruchelvam of Columbia University is developing live-action short film and animated series. And Thy Than of the UCLA plans to create an animated short about a girl who emigrates with her family. The students also will each have TV academy mentors. They were honored at a recent ceremony attended by Rogers' widow, Joanne Rogers.

A federal appeals court turned down a lawsuit that would have stopped the FCC from protecting low-power FM stations from full-power station signal interference, reports the Ars Technica website. Around 800 educational stations operating at 10 or 100 watts commit to eight hours of local programming a day in exchange for licenses. After the FCC first authorized the service, the National Association of Broadcasters and NPR claimed that the stations would interfere with full-power signals (Current, May 2008), and persuaded Congress to force a "third adjacent rule" on the service. Citing potential interference from LPFMs, the two also wanted the FCC not protect these smaller stations from signal "encroachment" by new full power licenses nearby.